National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Introduction
Submission to the Inquiry Regarding National Disability Insurance Scheme (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Amendment Bill 2026
ATT: Community Affairs Legislation Committee 27th May 2026
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is , I am a multi-disabled person and an NDIS participant from Werribee, Victoria. I am submitting this document to the inquiry regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Amendment Bill 2026. I have been a participant since June 2023, and have worked in this sector since 2022. To protect the privacy and dignity of people other than myself in this document, names and identifying details have been changed.
I want to firstly state that I support the long term sustainability, integrity, and safety of the NDIS, and believe it to be a source of national pride that at its best, positively changes the lives of people with disability, their families, friends, and our communities across the country. I also support efforts to address fraud, misconduct, and ensure that participants are kept safe from violence, exploitation, coercion, and poor provider conduct. However, I am deeply concerned that in the past two years reforms to the NDIS including those contained within this Bill, are already contributing to significant harm, instability and deterioration for many disabled Australians.
I am deeply concerned that many measures contained within this bill, risk achieving “sustainability” through reduced access to the scheme, increasing barriers, narrower support pathways, and greater administrative control over disabled Australians’ lives, reducing their choice and control.
A central concern with the current reform direction is that “NDIS sustainability” is increasingly framed primarily through reducing participant growth, narrowing supports and increasing administrative control over participant funding. This framing risks treating disabled people and participant supports as the core financial problem, rather than examining whether broader systemic inefficiencies, adversarial administrative processes and underinvestment in accessibility are significantly contributing to the rising costs of the scheme.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Recommendations for Improving NDIS Sustainability
Recommendation: Improve internal operational efficiency & processes
There appears to be an insufficient focus within the Bill on whether sustainability could instead be improved through:
● Better operational efficiency; ● Improved staff training and retention; ● Earlier issue resolution; ● More consistent decision making; ● Reduced adversarial processes; ● Stronger investment in long-term social and economic participation outcomes.
Recommendation: Improve Accessible NDIS Education and Collaboration Pathways For Allied Health Professionals.
The government should invest in the development of clearer, nationally consistent and easily accessible education pathways for allied health professionals working alongside NDIS participants.
This may include: ● Free or low cost learning modules; ● Practical training resources; ● Clearer operational guidance; ● Disability-specific evidence frameworks; ● Report writing guidance; ● Collaborative practice education; ● And improved communication regarding legislative and operational expectations within the NDIS.
Currently, many participants (myself included) experience inconsistent outcomes due to varying levels of understanding across NDIS staff and external professionals regarding: ● Reasonable and necessary criteria; ● Functional capacity evidence; ● Psychosocial disability; ● Fluctuating disability; ● Chronic illness; ● Clear evidentiary requirements used within the planning and review processes.
Improving the quality, consistency and accessibility of education of allied health professionals, may: ● Improve the quality of evidence provided to the NDIA; ● Reduce participant confusion and administrative burden;
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
● Support more accurate first-instance decision making; ● Reduce unnecessary reassessments and plan reviews; ● Reduce escalations to the Administrative Review Tribunal proceedings; ● Improve long-term scheme sustainability without requiring participants to absorb harmful reductions to their funding.
This approach would support a more collaborative, participant centred practice between the NDIA, participants, and treating professionals.
The NDIS should not be viewed solely as an expenditure liability. It is also an engine of economic and social infrastructure.
Research undertaken by Per Capita suggests the NDIS generates substantial economic activity, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs creating a broader economic return through workforce participation, care infrastructure and community participation. Similarly, research from the e61 institute improves wellbeing, stability and workforce participation over time.
If the NDIS were approached as a long-term, national investment in the lives of disabled Australians, rather than as a rapidly growing cost centre - there may be more intelligent and sustainable pathways available to the Government. For example:
● Accessible employment pathways; ● Inclusive workplaces; ● Workforce participation supports; ● Early intervention; ● Housing stability; ● Planner education; ● And consistent operational decision making may all improve long-term sustainability outcomes, far more effectively than reducing participant funding and access to supports.
Operational Failures & Administrative Harm
There are also significant concerns regarding operational inefficiencies within the NDIA itself. Participants like myself, often experience: ● Inconsistent interpretation of legislation and operational guidelines; ● High staff turnover; ● Contradictory advice between NDIA staff; ● Poor continuity of decision-making; ● Repeated requests for evidence already provided; ● Decisions that appear to inadequately consider the material provided by participants and their treating Allied Health professionals.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Former NDIA CEO, Rebecca Faulkingham stated during Senate Estimates, on 27 February 2025, that planners do not have sufficient time to properly read and assess all documentation provided by participants regarding their support needs.
This raises serious concerns about whether decisions impacting participants’ lives in deeply personal ways are being given sufficient time, context and understanding to ensure fairness, dignity, and long term cost-effective funding decisions are being made.
Poor decision-making itself may contribute to escalating costs through: ● Repeated reassessments; ● Unnecessary reviews; ● Participant deterioration and risks to safety; ● Preventable crisis’; ● And increasing the number of Administrative Review Tribunal cases.
There also appears to be a lack of focus on resolving issues before they escalate to the Administrative Review Tribunal stage. For example, my own funding has been impacted by issues outlined above, dropping from $105k per year for three years, to $35k per year due to a decision to ‘end-date’ one of my disabilities (I have a vision impairment) made in August of 2024, which no planner or other staff member attempted to engage with me or contact me about, and I was only made aware of by accident in February 2026.
This matter could have been resolved with communication, perhaps an internal review, in 2024, however this opportunity was denied and I am now pursuing resolution at the Administrative Review Tribunal with our first hearing scheduled for June 1st 2026. During the few months my funding has been radically reduced, the impact has been severe and continues to contribute to my functional deterioration: ● I am facing housing instability as my capacity to work has been reduced to 3-5 hours per week; ● I am facing having close my business down due to my decline in functional capacity, but I will be unable to find work outside my home due to the restricted funding in my plan; ● My income has been impacted and I am not currently able to meet minimum living expenses such as rent, utilities, groceries, medications, or cost of specialist appointments required for ongoing treatment and support planning; ● I have had to, despite it being a stated goal in all of my NDIS plans to successfully complete my Bachelor of Social Work, withdraw from my university studies due to the restricted funding in my current plan; ● I have had to fire three support providers, and have not been able to visit my family or friends for months; ● My mental, emotional and physical wellbeing is deteriorating and I am experiencing ‘flare ups’ of my disabilities more often and more intensely.
This is what I am currently experiencing, in the current NDIS environment. Under the proposed changes contained in this Bill, I am deeply concerned that experiences like mine, may become more frequent, difficult to resolve, and harmful to participants experiencing administrative error, restrictive interpretation
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
of supports, and substantial funding reductions, increasing the operating costs of the NDIA on a broader level.
The proposed reforms appear to increase administrative and ministerial discretion, while placing insufficient focus on participant safeguards, accessible review pathways, meaningful early dispute resolution, and accountability mechanisms.
For participants with complex, fluctuating, psychosocial, neurological or chronic health conditions, these risks may be particularly significant. In my own circumstances, a single administrative decision - made without communication, consultation or opportunity for clarification - has already resulted in: ● Severe financial instability; ● Reduced workforce participation; ● Educational withdrawal; ● Deterioration in physical and mental health; ● Social isolation; ● Loss of supports; ● Increased risk of long-term economic exclusion.
Importantly, these impacts are being experienced now, prior to the introduction of the additional discretionary powers and structural reforms contained within this Bill.
This raises serious concerns regarding how participants may be affected if: ● Support categories become narrower; ● Decision-making becomes increasingly automated or guideline-driven; ● Greater reliance is placed on functional capacity frameworks; ● Participants face additional barriers to accessing or maintaining supports; ● Or practical, meaningful accountability mechanisms become harder to access.
Although review pathways may exist, many participants do not have the financial, emotional, cognitive, or physical capacity to sustain prolonged review processes while experiencing deterioration, housing instability, loss of income or disruption to essential supports.
Where early communication, clarification and internal dispute resolution mechanisms fail, delayed, inaccessible or prolonged review pathways may fail to prevent significant harm from occurring before matters are resolved and may unnecessarily escalate matters to the growing numbers of Administrative Review Tribunal. This not only creates significant harm and instability for participants, but also increased legal and administrative expenditure to the NDIA, contributing to the embedding of an increasingly adversarial system that is both costly to participants, and the Government.
These are outcomes that are at odds with the stated objective of maintaining the long-term sustainability of the NDIS, are predictable, already occurring, and will only increase under the amendments contained in the Bill - and they are also preventable.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Many participants are already living with growing uncertainty regarding whether essential supports will continue to remain accessible in the future. This instability itself creates harm. Participants cannot effectively plan housing, education, employment, health management or long-term participation outcomes where access to support becomes increasingly unpredictable, adversarial, or vulnerable to sudden administrative change.
The Human Impact of Effective Disability Supports
When the NDIS functions effectively, it is not merely a funding scheme. It is a powerful driver of inclusion, participation, dignity, health and economic contribution. It enabled disabled Australians and their families to build stable, connected, and meaningful lives within their communities.
The value of the NDIS cannot be measured solely through annual expenditure figures. Its impact is reflected in the lives people with disabilities are able to build and lead when appropriate supports are accessible and sustained.
Corey
My youngest brother, Corey, aged fourteen, is profoundly deaf and currently uses hearing aids. His hearing fluctuates, and will eventually deteriorate further over time. Because my family was able to access early childhood interventions through the NDIS when he was a toddler, he was able to receive ongoing monitoring and support from Allied Health professionals during critical development years.
This enabled Corey to attend a kindergarten specifically for deaf/hard of hearing children, where he was surrounded by peers sharing their lived experiences together and he first began to learn Auslan.
Importantly, support from the NDIS extended beyond Corey alone.Through the NDIS, our family was able to access Auslan lessons together, so as a family we were able to learn how to more effectively communicate with Corey, and strengthen our relationships as a family unit.
Because of these interventions, my brother has developed strong communication and language skills we once feared may not be possible for him. Today, I am proud to share that Corey communicates in three languages; English, Slovak and Auslan. These supports did not merely improve his childhood experience
- they expanded his future opportunities, independence, and capacity for economic and community participation as he grows into adolescence, and adulthood.
This is an example of what long-term investment in the lives of disabled Australians can achieve, when participants and families are properly supported at the earliest opportunity.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Rosie
My cousin Rosie, lives with Spina Bifida. Her bladder is paralysed, and she has no bladder sensation, meaning she cannot independently determine when her bladder is full or empty and cannot urinate without the use of catheters.
As a result, she relies on single-use catheters multiple times every day in order to safely manage a basic bodily function most people never need to think about. While she receives some support from the commonwealth Continence Aids Payment Support program (CAPS), this does not cover the entire cost or supply of catheters Rosie needs every year. Depending on her body and health fluctuations, she may need to use between four and ten catheters per day. Catheters range in cost from $0.70 - $1.65 for a single-use, individual catheter. Rosie relies on the NDIS to help cover the gap in cost. Without support the cost of these essential consumables would be overwhelming.
The NDIS has been life changing in enabling to access to these supports. It has allowed Rosie to continue working as a nurse in her community, continue her education and participate in her rural QLD community, maintain greater independence, dignity and wellbeing.
Importantly, these supports are not simply about convenience. Access to appropriate continence products significantly reduces the risk of urinary tract infections, bladder and kidney complications, while also reducing the likelihood of public accidents, humiliation, social withdrawal, and declining mental health.
Recent announcements by Minister Butler regarding reductions to participant funding in the Core category of up to 30%, the same category consumables fall under, create serious concern for people like Rosie. Reductions in this category for essential consumables mean participants may be forced to ration or re-use single-use medical products in ways that compromise safety and health outcomes.
This is not merely a quality of life issue. It may increase preventable infections, reduce workforce participation, increase healthcare demand, worsen mental health outcomes, and undermine participant dignity and community inclusion.
For many Australians, it’s difficult to imagine the emotional impact of living with the constant fear of public accidents at work, university, or in the community due to inadequate access to essential disability supports.
These stories demonstrate that the NDIS, when functioning effectively, does not simply “spend money”. It creates opportunity, preserves dignity, strengthens families, improves health outcomes, and enables disabled Australians to participate meaningfully in their communities.
My deepest concern, is that reforms from the 2024 legislation amendments and contained within this Bill, have focussed primarily on reducing expenditure, particularly expecting participants to endure a 30% reduction in essential supports, means the government is losing sight of the human, social and economic value these supports create for disabled Australians, their families and the broader community.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Conclusion
The sustainability of the NDIS should not be solely measured through reduced expenditure growth, narrower participant access, or increased administrative control over disabled Australians’ lives.
True sustainability should instead be measured through whether disabled Australians are: ● Able to remain safely housed; ● Participate in employment and education where possible; ● Maintain health and wellbeing; ● Remain connected to family, friends and community; ● Avoid preventable crisis; ● Live with dignity, stability and inclusion.
The evidence increasingly suggests that effective disability support is not merely a financial cost to the Government, but an investment that generates substantial social and economic return. Research undertaken by Per Capita estimates that for every $1 invested into the NDIS, approximately $2.25 is generated in economic activity through improved participation, reduced long-term cost demand, workforce engagement and stronger community inclusion.
The experiences outlined in this submission demonstrate both: ● The extraordinary outcomes possible when disabled Australians’ appropriate and sustained support; ● The devastating consequences that occur when supports are reduced, destabilised, or made increasingly difficult to access.
I’m deeply concerned that the reforms proposed within this Bill continue a broader policy direction that increasingly frames disabled Australians’ through the lens of expenditure reduction, rather than through long-term social investment, participation, dignity, and as human beings with inherent value.
Disabled people should not be required to absorb the burden of system inefficiencies, operational failures, or sustainability reform through worsening poverty, instability, deteriorating health, social isolation or reduced access to supports.
I urge the Committee to carefully consider whether the measures proposed in this Bill genuinely strengthen the long-term sustainability of the NDIS, or whether they risk creating greater, long-term social and economic harm through increasingly restrictive and adversarial approaches to disability support.
A sustainable NDIS should not merely be cheaper to run.
It should support disabled Australians to live safe, connected, vibrant, and fulfilling lives with dignity, stability, inclusion and genuine choice and control.
The decisions made regarding this Bill will not simply shape budgets or administrative systems. They will shape the daily lives, health, opportunities, safety and futures of disabled Australians’, their families and communities for years to come.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1211
Finally, I leave you with these words from former US Vice President, Hubert Humphrey for consideration in your deliberations:
“The moral test of government is how a government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life - the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.”
Kind Regards,
Disabled Human
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